Libyan deputy PM resigns citing ‘policy failure’

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libya’s deputy prime minister has resigned citing failed government policies and the deterioration of security following a string of assassinations, according to officials and his Facebook page.

The prime minister’s office said Sunday it had accepted the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Awad al-Barassi. It had no further comment.

Al-Barassi announced the resignation late Saturday on his official Facebook page, saying that a “fearful number of assassinations of honorable people” stemmed from what he said was government policy failure.

The deputy prime minister is a member of a party allied with Libya’s Muslim Brotherhood group, while Prime Minister Ali Zidan is considered close to liberals. But al-Barassi’s complaints did not appear to reflect ideological differences.

Al-Barassi accused the prime minister of monopolizing decision-making, even about trivial issues, hindering government efforts to discharge its “responsibilities for deteriorating security, especially in (the eastern city of) Benghazi.”

The city has seen a series of assassinations in recent weeks, including those of a leading Libyan lawyer and activist and a former top official in the country’s newly-formed security force, as well as several explosions targeting government offices and courthouses.

Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed along with three other Americans in an attack last year on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, the birthplace of the country’s 2011 uprising against dictator Moammar Gadhafi.